


The Haywood Heist

by orphan_account



Series: GTA5!AU [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: GTA5!AU, Grand Theft Auto 5 - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-10 00:16:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2003514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to "More Than Just a Crew Member."</p><p>Five years after Gavin started living with Ryan, things have been going just fine. But when Ryan leaves for three months to take care of business for his secret identity as millionaire playboy James Haywood, Gavin is caught in the middle when Geoff decides to plan a heist to hit the Haywood Family. Gavin, unable to reach Ryan in anyway, must decide if he helps and attack the Haywood's which would put put Ryan's life in danger, try to warn Ryan without getting caught, or come forward and tell Geoff the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It has been a good five years since I moved in with Ryan, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve gotten to know him so much better and we spend so much time together and it’s just been amazing. Not many things have changed in the five years with everyone in the crew, in fact if anything, everything has been getting better after I came back from my coma and everything eventually got back to normal. Although I will admit that even after confronting Burnie at the prison about everything, I still had bad days when something reminded me of him or the coma. But Ryan was always there to help me with it, he was very supportive and understanding. Living with him was pretty much a dream come true; we spent our days off at the apartment.

Every so often, Ryan would have to go spend a couple weeks at the Haywood mansion though every so often, so people won’t wonder about James being missing. It was hard having him leave all the time, but when he was here, we made sure to make good use of the bedroom. I’m surprised we had two TVs at the place, one in the living room and one in our bedroom since we spend most of our days in bed lounging around. Mostly just watching movies or the occasional game but I guess when we have guests over, they’d prefer the living room.

When I would get ready for the day if we were going out, Ryan bought me all new clothes when I moved in. I kept a bunch of my own for when we hung out with the crew so they wouldn’t question my new expensive tastes. But I loved wearing the clothes Ryan got me, they were extremely comfortable and we went to really expensive places to eat. Ryan was so happy to bring me out to these nice places because he really couldn’t before because of how expensive it was. He often told me about how he wanted to bring me here on a date before I knew who he was but knew that it would be very weird. It was a little awkward at first going but I eventually got used to it.

Most nights though we would cook for each other, though. Ryan was way better than me when it came to cooking, it was almost embarrassing. Most of the time I messed up our meals, whether it was burnt, undercooked, overly seasoned, almost anything that could go wrong usually would. I didn’t stop trying and he never complained, sure he would ask about what I did wrong and suggest what I could do to make it better, and no matter how bad it was, he would always eat it. It was his night to cook and I was helping him get everything ready.

As we ate together, he looked up at me, smiling that signature smile at me. I blushed as I ate, him knowing fully well how I reacted when he would smile at me. He took a drink of his diet soda, me rolling my eyes as I kept eating, but stole glances at him like a love struck teenager in high school. After a few moments, Ryan sort of paused eating, kinda playing around with it before looking up.

“Hey Gav? I uh, I need to go back to the Haywood Mansion again,” he started, I stopped mid bite.

“Really? It’s a lot sooner than normal, you just got back,” I mentioned, taking that bite.

“I know, I’m sorry about that. I would put it off if I could but I can’t,” he sighed, I knew he didn’t like it either.

“Well, it’ll only be a couple weeks, it’ll be fine, Rye-Bread,” I smiled at him. He didn’t say anything, I tilted my head, calling his name, but he didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Well, it’s not going to be a couple weeks…more like…three months.”

“T-three months!?” I gasped, “What on earth for?”

“Well it’s for a charity that the Haywood’s host every so often. My father had talk to me last week when I was there about having me host it for once. Of course I declined but he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” he sighed.

“Do you know why you’ll be gone for so long?” I asked.

“Well, honestly I’m going to be gone for so long is because I can’t let Geoff get suspicious of me disappearing before the charity event. It won’t be until the middle of the third month and half of the first month is just so I’m away from the others, while the rest of the time would actually be planning everything.”

I could tell Ryan was just as unhappy about having to do it as I am, since we both know that means we couldn’t talk for all that time. Ryan had two phones, one for his life as James Haywood, and the other as Ryan Vagabond, when he was with me, he never answered his phone for James and never answered his phone as Ryan when he was away. Contacting him was pretty much impossible unless I was to go right to the Haywood Mansion, which I would never do. So I usually either stayed by myself at the apartment or hung out with the others.

“There’s no way for you to get a chance to talk to me, is there?” I asked, knowing the answer already.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said. I smiled up at him, telling him it was alright. We ate in silence the rest of dinner, cuddling close together on the couch before going to bed.

*~*~*~*

I helped Ryan get all packed for going back. I didn’t really want to but if I didn’t I probably would just be sulking on the couch since he was leaving. At least it kept my mind busy.

“I wish I didn’t have to do this stupid thing. I get why it’s important, but why do I have to plan the god damn thing?” Ryan huffed as he put some belongings into the bag. I didn’t say anything, just leaning into him, his arm wrapping around my waist and holding me close. After his things were packed, I got them all zipped up and all together by the bedroom door. Ryan came over to me, tilting my head up, pressing his lips to mine.

“I love you so much,” he mumbled against my lips, I smiled.

“I love you too, Rye.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me up, making me giggle as he walked forward, dumping me onto the bed then crawling on, on his hands and knees above me. I propped myself up on my elbows, kissing him sweetly, one of his hands shifting and cupping my face as I pulled away from the kiss and nuzzled into his hand.

“I know it seems like a long time,” he whispered, “but I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Yeah, but even the couple weeks your gone it feels like bloody forever,” I grumbled as he chuckled, “three months will be like a lifetime.”

“You’re being over dramatic, Babe.”

“Maybe, but it’s still a long time!” I groaned.

“Speak for yourself, I was without you for three years!” he laughed, then promptly realizing his mistake, his mouth closing into a firm line.

I knew that he didn’t mean anything hurtful and I sometimes will make a joke about the coma, but things like that always struck the wrong cord with me, guilt building inside my chest. I pushed my way out from under him and stood up, straightening my clothes.

“You better call Geoff and tell him your story for leaving again,” I said as I excused myself, going to the couch, sitting down and bringing my knees up to my chest as I looked for anything to watch on the TV. I heard Ryan talking about helping someone out of the state as a favor owed. Geoff seemed to have agreed from the sounds of things. Ryan finished up getting his things together, putting them by the front door. He walked over and sat down beside me, pulling me into his lap. I immediately relented and curled up into him as he held me close.

“I’m so sorry Gavin. I wasn’t thinking when I said that, I know it’s been a few years but that doesn’t excuse me for saying anything like that” he whispered into my hair, he moved one hand to my chin, making me look up at him.

“I love you so much, Gavin. You bring so much joy to my life I could never imagine it without you. I was always with you and you’re always with me. I wouldn’t have that any other way and I want you to know that.”

I smiled softly at him, nodding, moving in and kissing him once more, his hand on my chin moving to tangle itself in my hair.

He never blamed me for what had happened and wouldn’t let me blame myself for it either. I had told him it was because I knew Burnie would come after me eventually but Ryan wouldn’t have it. I eventually gave in and after a while I was able to stop blaming myself. Just when the coma is suddenly brought up like that can still make me uneasy. I thought the occasional joke about it would help me get over it but I guess that’s just one of those things that you might not ever get over.

“I love you too Ryan. I’m gonna miss you while you’re gone. Are you sure there’s no way for you to talk to me while you’re there?” I pouted, still sat in his lap. He smirked, pecking my cheek.

“I wish there was, Babe. It’s going to be a long three months for both of us. Just remember that every night I go to sleep, I’ll be thinking of my little Brit.”

I nodded, kissing his cheek then getting off of him. He checked his phone, looking at the time.

“I better get going. My father is expecting me soon, and he hates when I’m late,” he said as he stood, walking to the door with me by his side. He gathered his couple bags, but pulled out his wallet, pulling out a credit card, handing it to me.

“Since I’m going to be gone for so long, I got this for you. The bills will be sent to me so you don’t need to worry about paying them while I’m away. But it has a $6,000 limit, not that you probably would spend it all in a month, but you never know,” he shrugged, “It’s for you to spend, on whatever you want. Aside from meals and stuff you know you need. But if you just want to spoil yourself on some things, it’s fine. I had them set to reset at the first of each month so it’d be easy for you to figure out when you can use it again if you happened to actually reach the limit.”

He chuckled at that last bit, but I nodded as I looked at the little plastic card in my hand, my name on it. I sighed, looking up at him.

“Are you sure? I would’ve been fine with money to just get food or whatever,” I scratched the back of my neck, “you don’t need to spend that much money on me.”

“Gavin,” Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes, “I used to buy like five cars at a time just for the hell of it as a teenager. $6,000 a month isn’t actually that much so don’t worry about it. Hell, go over the limit, get the fines, I’ll pay for it all!”

It was hard to argue with him when it came to money, he was a bloody millionaire, and he’s a smart investor. So if he wants me to blow his money, I guess I can’t really say otherwise no matter how I tried to fight it. Even if he’s used to blowing all his money as a teen, I still feel weird about spending someone else’s money. But he wouldn’t budge on the matter so I accepted and put the card into my wallet. He smirked at me.

“I’ve been wanting to get around to getting you that credit card anyway. Thought maybe this would be the best time to give it to you, also as an apology for having to leave for so long.”

“You don’t have to apologize, you can’t help it,” I smiled up at him, “It’s just…I prefer not to spend other people’s money…bad experiences from it.”

He nodded, knowing that I was talking about Burnie.

“Well it isn’t just my money, Gav. It’s our money, okay? So spend as much as you want,” he smiled, he stopped to think for a moment, looking back to me, “Oh, I almost forgot, I had all our bills prepaid for the time I’m gone. I wrote down some things in case they try to get paid again.”

“I know how to take care of myself, you know,” I chuckled, he nodded, running his hand through his hair.

“I know, sorry. Just trying to make everything easier for you,” he grinned. He checked everything once more and made sure everything he needed done was done. I asked him if I could walk with him downstairs but he said no. He kissed me on the forehead and then on my lips.

“I’ll be back soon enough. I’ll miss you every day I’m gone,” he said, smiling softly before picking up his couple bags and headed out, shutting the door behind him. I sighed and went back to the couch, groaning as I knew it would be a long three months. Two weeks sometimes felt like a long time.

After a moment, I got up and went to the windows, so large they took up practically the whole outside wall. I stood there, looking down to the street, and soon enough I could see Ryan walking out and putting his bags in the trunk of his car. Once he had reached the driver’s door, he had stopped. I tried to see what he was doing but I smiled when he started waving at me. I wonder if he could even see me from all the way up here plus there probably was a glare from the sunlight. Maybe he just thought I assumed I was at the window and waved even if he couldn’t see me? I waved back either way, it just felt right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I told you I was working on this again! Super sorry that it took so long!

I groaned loudly in annoyance as I lay sprawled on the couch, three weeks after Ryan had gone back to his other home. I was bloody bored out of my mind, having nothing to do, the crew not really doing much this past week. I stared up at the ceiling until the boredom was too much, I sat up and pulled out my phone, smiling at the screen. It was the same photo that Ryan took of us when he first gave me this phone. He kept asking me to get a new one since it was so outdated but I’m a bit sentimental that I didn’t want to give it up. Even recently he would ask me to upgrade to a better smartphone a few days before he left.

I decided to call Ray, asking him to come over to hang out. He agreed and I met him at the front door, walking him back to the top floor. He hasn’t been over often so it’s always amusing to see his reaction to such a large apartment. We sat on the couch and talked for a bit, getting him some soda while I grabbed a beer. After a while, he was starting to get bored with me, he asked if this was what I usually did when Ryan was gone, since we explained to him why Ryan left all the time. I was still grateful that Ray never told Geoff and he was still okay with keeping the secret.

“So Vav, when you’re not just being a lazy ass on the couch when Ryan’s gone, what do you do for fun?” he got up, looking at the entertainment center with everything, “Dude, this game console is old as shit, don’t you have the newer one?”

“No, Ry and I don’t play games that often actually. I was thinking about asking him if we could get some new stuff, but I still get a bit flustered asking him for things. I’m still just used to saving up money and paying for all my own things.”

“Come on, Vav! You’re dating a millionaire! I’m sure Ryan would have no problem buying you anything you wanted! Do you even ask him to?”

“No I don’t,” I sighed, “I just feel weird doing so. Kinda weird after living with him for 5 years, huh?”

“Super weird, dude,” he laughed. I shrugged, looking towards the kitchen. Well, I had just recently gotten food for myself and that’s all I really used the credit card for. After a few moments of debating with myself, I looked to Ray.

“Well….would you mind coming with me to the game store then? I’ll need help picking out a new console and games,” I asked, his face lit up and he nodded.

“Absolutely!! But uh, how are you going to pay for them? Ryan isn’t here to give you the cash.”

I pulled out my wallet, showing him the card, “Ryan gave me this to use while he was away. He said I could get anything I wanted but so far I’ve only gotten food for myself.”

“Now that’s fucking awesome! How much you got on it?”

“6 grand is the monthly limit. He told me that the bills would be sent to him while he’s gone and he’d keep them paid and I could buy anything I wanted. So…wanna go with me?” I asked, putting the card and my wallet away.

“Fuck yeah I do!! I got some serious things to teach you, let’s go!!” he shouted in delight as we left.

We got to the gaming store and he started showing me a bunch of things about gaming. It was pretty simple to understand and I was quick to pick up on it all. So we got a new console and a bunch of games and extra controllers. We went back to the apartment and Ray helped me get everything hooked up and working. After a couple hours of fiddling with settings, making accounts and getting games set up, we were sat on the couch playing against each other. He was so much better than me, it was a bit frustrating as he laughed at me for being so bad. As we played, we would talk about random things until he asked about Ryan.

“So how long is Ryan gonna be gone this time? Any idea on what it’s for?”

“Uh, a little over two more months right now. And from what he told me, he’s working on planning some charity event that the Haywood family puts together every couple years,” I answered, Ray nodding.

We played different games all night until we decided to call it a night. He didn’t mind staying over on the couch, I waved him good night as I went to bed.

My phone rang loudly early the next morning. I groaned, not wanting to get up, ignored my phone and let it ring. A few moments later I could hear Ray’s phone from my room, but actually answered. I tried to fall back asleep until Ray knocked on my door.

“Hey Vav, it was Geoff. He wants us to meet up now. Get dressed, I’ll meet you outside,” he called as he walked away. I yawned and got up, changing quickly into some clean clothes, I quickly met up with Ray outside like he said and he gave me a ride to the hang out. We got there soon, but were the last ones to show up. We all gathered around the large table in the back room where we do our planning, sitting around Geoff and Jack as they stood, both with a bunch of papers.

“Hello boys, and lady,” Geoff smirked, looking at all of us. I was in between Michael and Kdin, looking at everyone as Geoff spoke, “I think it’s time we pulled a heist. And not just any heist either, this will be one of the biggest heists we’ve ever done.”

“Even bigger than that bank?” Lindsay asked.

“Yeah, bigger. Which is why we’re gonna start planning now, because we aren’t actually hitting it for a few weeks. It sucks that Ryan isn’t here, we could’ve used him. But we’ll make do without him. So let’s get down to the basics. This hit is going to be so much larger than you might be thinking, this place will be crawling with guards and it’s gonna be at this huge mansion. But if we can pull this off, we’ll be making hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not over a million,” Geoff said, a sinister smile on his face. Everyone looked at each other, either confused or shocked.

“How on earth are we gonna pull something like this off!?” Kdin asked, his face crossed with worry.

“Very careful planning, this is a huge event for Los Santos, and even more so for Vinewood since that’s where it’ll be held,” Geoff reassured, “I’ve had my eyes on the place for a long time, but I think we’re finally ready to really hit this city and let them know the Fake AH Crew is who really runs this city.”

“What kind of thing is it if it’s at some mansion?” Michael asked, his face still showing shock, I assume by how big this heist is going to be.

“I have some sources feeding me as much info as I can, but all I really know is that it’s some sort of charity event for the rich,” Geoff answered. My head shot up at that, I thought about his wording: it’s in a few weeks, at a mansion, and it’s a charity event? My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as I looked at Geoff, keeping as straight of a face as I could, clearing my throat.

“So who are we hitting, Grif?” I asked, my mouth going dry as I glanced over at Ray who also looked a bit worried.

“I’m glad you asked, Buddy!” Geoff said cheerfully, “After all these years, we’re finally hitting one of the city’s biggest family.”

Ray and I exchanged a look of horror as Geoff announced to everyone our target.

“In two months, we’re pulling off our biggest heist yet! We’re going to be hitting the Haywood Family!”

*~*~*~*

After the meeting, I had my phone out, texting Ray to meet me once he was able to get out of talking with everyone. I knew if we both left together right away, Geoff might think something was up. I talked with others, getting an idea about how we’ll be able to pull this off. After a while, I excused myself after agreeing to meet up with Geoff for a drink together. I walked to my bike, riding to the parking lot of my apartment, pulling my phone out. I knew it was pointless but I just had to try to call Ryan. I called the familiar number, but sighed in defeat when it immediately went to the voice mail. He never had his phone on, let alone check it while he was away.

“Ryan,” I said when I could leave a message, “please let this be off chance that you actually will check your phone…Ryan you’re in danger. There’s too much to say in just a message, so please, PLEASE find a chance to call me. Just know that Geoff plans on hitting the Haywood Family during your charity, and I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I can’t tell them the truth but I can’t just tell them I don’t want to do it. Please call me. Tell me what I need to do. If anything, just text me that you got this message….I love--”

The phone cut me off as my message went to long, just saving what I said but couldn’t add to it. I sighed and hung up. I prayed Ryan would just have this feeling to check his phone, not just keep his crew phone locked up like he told me he did. Ray called me as I stayed sat on my bike, telling me he’d meet me at a nearby diner to grab something to eat with me. I was confused for a moment but I could hear the others in the background, realizing he couldn’t explain any further. I told him I’d be there in soon and hung up. I started my bike up again and went to the diner he told me to meet him at.

I ended sitting alone for another 20 minutes but Ray did eventually show up. I had already ordered my meal and had just gotten it, offering to buying Ray’s meal and he accepted, ordering as well. I shared my fries with him until his own order arrived, taking back what he took with a smirk. We ate together in silence for a moment until I just started losing my appetite as I thought about what happened this morning. Ray saw that I was slowing down when it came to eating and he sighed as he slowed as well.

“Ray…what are we going to do? Ryan’s gonna be in there, he won’t know we’re coming,” I frowned.

“I’m not sure, Gavin. You told me before that Ryan keeps his crew phone off while he’s gone,” he shrugged.

“Well…I’m hoping that he might check his phone sometimes since he’s gone for so long. But I’m worried that he won’t,” I sighed, “I called him after I left. Obviously his phone was off but I did leave him a message to let me know if he got it so I know that he’ll be ready for us. I really hope he does…”

“Well, what if he doesn’t? What are you gonna do?” Ray asked, taking another bite of his meal. I chewed on my lip a bit, thinking it over. I thought of all the possibilities but there was only one I could really think of that I know we could talk to Ryan, I looked up at Ray.

“If he doesn’t let me know that he got my message, I’m going to the Haywood Mansion in person to tell him.”

Ray was silent, shock crossing his face before he nodded, “Then I’m going with you. Give him three days. If nothing, we’ll go over together to talk to him. I know he gets you all those fancy clothes. We can wear those so we at least look the part that would be acquaintances of James Haywood.”

I smiled softly, returning to eat my own food.

“Thanks Ray, I owe you more than what I could ever give you. Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it, Gav. Ryan’s a part of our crew, and if he’s in danger, you can bet your ass I’ll help make sure nothing happens to him. Even if the danger is the crew itself.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin still can't contact Ryan and seeks help from the most unlikely person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer than I thought it was going to be! But I know you like longer chapters ;D

The three days came a lot slower than I wished it would. I just sat in the apartment, wishing my phone to ring with either a call or a text from Ryan. The wait has been killing me and I wish I could just talk to him to tell him about what Geoff is planning. Time seemed to slow down more and more as I watched the clock slowly tick through the hours of each day. I could barely focus and ignored calls from the others, making an excuse that I had food poisoning or something.

By the end of the third day, I sighed in defeat. Ryan never checked his phone. I knew he didn’t because if he had gotten my message, he would’ve found a way to let me know he knew so I wouldn’t have to worry. But it seems that I would have to go to him myself, I was just worried that he’d be furious with me either way since I went to his home. I couldn’t scare myself out of going so I picked my phone up and called Ray.

“Ray, it’s Gav. Ryan never called so I guess we will have to go to him,” I really didn’t like the idea of going.

“Really? Man, I was seriously wishing he did. It’s gonna be weird going over there, seeing him all dressed up as James Haywood, you know? I wonder if he looks any different…” he wondered.

That got me thinking to the night he invited me out to the strip club all those years ago. He looked so handsome in his suit and everything about him all clean and done up. Sure he would dress nice on dinner nights out together, but he hasn’t dressed up as nice as he did that night in a long time.

“Certainly is something to see,” I chuckled, hearing Ray laugh as well. We agreed to have Ray come over the next day so he could try on some clothes for any that fit so we looked nice enough to talk to Ryan. I haven’t been this nervous for a while, but I did my best to stay relaxed.

*~*~*

The next day came rolling around and I heard Ray knocking on the door, I opened it up and we went to my bedroom and started looking through the clothes and helping Ray find an outfit that matches. I thought that my clothes would be too small for him because of how thin I was, but they fit him better than Ryan’s clothes did since he’s so tall and muscular. Despite the slightly tight fit, my clothes fit Ray pretty well. Leaving his own clothes scattered on my bed, I quickly changed into one of my nicer outfits and got ready. I looked at Ray as he stood near the door, making a face at the beanie he was still wearing. I pulled it off him, then fixed his hair a bit.

“Sorry, Ray. But it didn’t really fit well.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine, I’m just used to wearing it all the time, is all,” he shrugged. I grabbed my phone, holding it in my hand a moment before looking up at Ray.

“I just wanna try one more time,” I sighed. He shrugged and motioned me to make the call. I dialed the familiar number but, unfortunately, was sent straight to the voicemail. I hung up and walked out with Ray, locking up the apartment and headed down to the garage. I handed Ray my keys to the car, sitting in the passenger seat as he started the car. I had a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, all I could think of was how furious Ryan would be that I went to the Haywood Mansion and put our relationship in danger. But I hoped that he would see pass that, and that I’m only doing this to protect him.

It was a long drive, or at least felt long. But, soon enough, we were pulling up to one of the largest estates in Los Santos. We were stopped at the gate, it not opening, and a small screen on the wall lit up.

“Do you have an appointment with any of the Haywood family?” the security guard, I presumed, asked.

“Uh, yeah I do,” I answered for Ray, “we’re friends of James. He asked us to stop by.”

The guard seemed to look through some papers, but looked confused.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no mention of Mr. Haywood having visitors today.”

“There must be some mistake, James is expecting us,” I tried again, biting my lip.

The guard didn’t look completely convinced, but Ray helped out.

“Oh, I think because he called us only a little while ago. The message that we were coming might not have gotten to you yet or he just forgot to tell you right away,” Ray said, smirking at me.

“Well it wouldn’t be the first time Mr. Haywood has neglected to keep me informed,” the guard chuckled a bit, “Alright, go on in boys, enjoy your visit with Mr. Haywood.”

“Thanks, man!” Ray said, pulling up the driveway. We parked the car out front, walking up to the doors, I took a few deep breaths before ringing the bell. Ray and I stood motionless until the door opened and a woman opened the door.

“May I help you young men?” she asked.

“Yes, we’re here to speak to James Haywood. We’re um…friends and partners of his. He asked us to stop by to discuss some things together,” Ray answered. The woman stayed in the door but didn’t move.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Haywood said he wouldn’t be taking any visitors for the next few days. He’s been extremely busy with the charity event.”

“I understand that, ma’am,” I tried, “But the charity is actually the reason we’re here. He wanted another set of eyes to check things out. Even if we can’t stay to talk, could he at least come down to hear what we have to say?”

The woman sighed, asked us to wait and shut the door. Ray and I waited what seemed like forever until she returned, but wouldn’t allow us in.

“Mr. Haywood said he hadn’t invited anyone over and does not wish to come down. I must ask you to leave the property,” she said coldly. We were both shocked and pleaded with her that it was a misunderstanding and we needed to talk to James Haywood.

“Please, just let us speak to him. We have reason to believe that someone is planning to steal the money from the charity event!” I said, Ray agreeing.

“I can assure you that the Haywood family will take every precaution to make sure that there’s enough security for our guests. Now I won’t ask again, please leave or I’ll call the police.”

We gave up and left and returned back to the apartment. I was so frustrated. We were right there, Ryan was just on the other side of those doors and we couldn’t warn him. It felt practically useless; I sighed and went to my room, returning Ray’s clothes and waving as he left. I laid in bed for a bit, thinking of what I could do. I got up and went to the computer and decided to do some research. I found whatever articles there were on the charity events that Ryan’s family has held. As it turns out, his family pays for top notch security. As I read more, I realized how much they actually raise during them. They didn’t just raise a million or so dollars, they also had a bunch of priceless items that are donated and my eyes were just wide at all of that happened there.

I don’t think even Geoff knew how much there was at stake. Even with all our abilities, I knew the crew is going to have a hell of a time pulling off this heist. Just all the security is going to be hard to get by, plus from what I found that they have a master list of names of who was invited to the event since it was mainly for wealthy families. I knew this was going to be difficult, and I was going to need help with this. Not only was I going to have to help plan the heist, I was going to have to figure out a way to get away from the others to find Ryan.

“Bloody hell, this is going to be a nightmare,” I sighed.

*~*~*

I’d spent the next week or so calling a bunch of Ryan’s contacts, hoping that some of them would be able to help without me telling them about Ryan’s true identity. But unfortunately none of them were willing to help. Turns out they know how powerful the Fake AH Crew is so they didn’t want to go against them. I tried all the contacts I could get a hold of that wouldn’t rat me out to the others. I sighed in frustration as my options became more and more limited. I needed to get into the computer system to get access to the list of guests. I couldn’t ask Kdin, despite that was his job without him questioning me and getting Geoff and the others involved. I didn’t know anyone else that knew computers like Kdin did so I just getting to dead end after dead end.

I needed someone who would know what to do, even if they couldn’t use the computers. Someone who plans everything to the smallest detail to prevent any chance of failure and was able to use everyone’s strong points to the advantage. And unfortunately I know just such a person. Which is why I ended up at the Los Santos prison like I did five years ago. I couldn’t believe I was here again, I never thought I’d ever come here again. I sat at the small table like I did years ago, my back to the door as I heard it open and the shuffling of chains as the came close. I kept my eyes down as the security guards passed me, sitting the prisoner down. I listened to him shift as he got comfortable in his seat. I motioned to the security guards that I was fine, so they went to their spots. I saw they were just out of hearing range and I took note of the cameras in the room. From what I could tell, they didn’t have microphones so if I angled the right way, they couldn’t read my lips should they want to.

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” the prisoner asked.

I gulped louder than I wanted to. I took a deep breath and looked up to the smirking face of Burnie “Church” Burns. I had to admit, he didn’t look as I expected him too. He seemed to have aged decades in the past few years where it seemed that he was ageless in years prior. I could see bits of gray throughout his hair and facial hair. A few extra wrinkles etched into his once flawless skin. He never looked so….old, until today.

“Well?” Burnie smirked, “I must say, never thought I’d see your pretty face again, Gav.”

“I-I….um..” I stuttered at first, but cleared my throat, “Burnie, I’m here because I need your help…”

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, sitting up from his relaxed posture to leaning onto the table, interest in his features.

“What on earth would cause you to come to me for help? Don’t I recall that you wanted me dead? Or your keeper Vagabond wanted my blood on his hands? So why the fuck are you here?” he questioned, I could already see the annoyance or possible anger. I took a moment to compose myself before meeting Burnie’s eyes.

“It’s actually because Ryan could be in danger. That’s why I’m here. Should I have been able to find anyone else, I’d be working with them instead of coming to you. You were my absolute last option so now I’m here. I need your help because I need someone who plans out everything to the smallest of details. It’s your good sense of planning is why I’m here. I need your help, Burnie.”

I wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t completely on board with it, and I also wasn’t surprised that he wanted more information on what exactly I was doing.

“I’m also curious as to why your little Vagabond could be in danger. I thought he was a big strong man that could take care of himself,” he scoffed.

“Burnie…under normal circumstances, you would never have been told this information, whether you were here or not. I lied when you asked about Ryan. About him having another identity.”

That definitely got his interest, so I explained what I could.

“Well, his real name is Haywood…he’s the son of the Haywood family and he’s in danger because my crew is going to hit their charity event that Ryan is hosting this year. But I can’t get into contact with him and the others don’t know. I need your help getting in to the event so while the others are working on the heist, I can warn Ryan of the danger and get him safe and so he can handle the situation.”

Burnie sat there, actually looking shocked as he went over what I told him. As he thought about it, I pulled out the different things I found about the Haywood charity events in the articles, handing them to Burnie, pointing out the key parts about what I need his help in. He scanned over all the articles though, then looked up to me.

“Why should I help you?” he asked, and I just shrugged.

“Got nothing better to do, right? Heard jail can get pretty boring.”

He laughed at that, almost a genuine laugh. I never really heard him laugh like that and he just picked up a few of the papers.

“Guess you’re right on that, Gavin.”

I studied him a bit before daring to ask.

“How have you been all these years?”

He looked up, rubbed his face a bit, looking tired and sighed, “It’s been…insightful. I can’t say that I regret what I’ve done all those years, but I can see how truly fucked up I was. Mostly what comes to mind was how I treated you,” he said flatly. Not sure how to react, I kept a straight face, my jaw clenched though.

“Listen, I’ve been here for almost ten years. You can only imagine what I went through being here. The things that happen here are sometimes worse than what I used to do to you. Seeing both the attacker and the victim had me thinking about you. I know you’ll never forgive me or some shit like that. Just know that I regret what I had done to you. I still have the urge to beat you senseless at that stupid face of yours though.”

I stared at him, shocked. Whether or not he meant it when he said he still wanted to beat me up, I couldn’t help but crack a smirk at him, and surprisingly, Burnie smirked back at me. He picked up the papers and started looking at them more closely.

“Well, I got nothing better to do. So I guess I’ll help you save your prince,” he chuckled, me rolling my eyes.

“Alright, you got a hacker in your group, right?” he asked, I nodded. He pointed at a notebook I brought with me and I handed it to him as well as a pen. He started writing down a bunch of things, I tried to read what it was he was writing but I just couldn’t. I sat quietly as he wrote down everything, just seeing the concentration on his face as the thought about everything. After a good ten minutes, he lifted up the notebook, reading over what he wrote down. He added a few more things before handing it to me and all the papers, which I noticed had some writing on them as well.

“That should be everything you need for now. If you need any more advice, I recommend you come here instead of calling. It’s easier to have these conversations here than on the line where they can record it and keep you from visiting. Either way, there should be enough to get you going.”

I nodded, thanking him as I motioned to the guards across the room that I was finished.

“One more thing, Gavin,” Burnie said as I stood, “after your finished with this rescue mission of yours, I want you to bring Vagabond here. To thank him in person.”

“To thank him for what?” I asked with no hesitation, he was silent for a moment before speaking.

“To thank him for fixing something I broke to so many pieces, I thought he’s never be fixed again,” he said softly, “I am truly sorry for what I had done. I can never fix that, I know that much. I just want you to know that I do regret what I did to you. And I hope by helping you, I can at least so something to repent for what I had done.”

“Burnie…” I started, the guards were getting him out of his seat, I stopped them and looked Burnie straight in the eyes. He didn’t look away when asked if he meant what he said and he did, I nodded and backed away.

“You never know Burnie, maybe it is possible to forgive you,” I shrugged.

“You’re insane, Free,” he said flatly.

“And you would know that best, Burns,” I smirked as they led him away, another guard walking me to the doors. I left without a word and sat in the car, putting the papers and notebook aside. I recalled my whole visit with Burnie. I could feel the tears streaming down my face, but whether it was fear or happiness, I wasn’t sure. And I was thrilled that I came, even if he hadn’t helped me. The relief I felt at this moment was just exactly what I needed right now. Even if Burnie were to betray me and screw me over once more, this very moment is extremely comforting right now.

I started the car and drove off, looking at my things. Maybe things will be different now that Burnie’s shadow in my life is starting to fade away. But I’m not so stupid as to let my guard down, if he’s truly wanting repay for what he’s done, he has a lot of work ahead of him. But if it meant keeping Ryan safe from our own crew, I’m willing to take the risk and trusting Burnie in this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you weren't expecting that, huh? Tell me your thoughts and predictions!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trash, I'm so sorry this is so late!! D:

I went over all the information Burnie gave me. He really knew what he was dealing with, so I read all his notes and his suggestions on what we should be doing. I studied it for a few days until I went up to the crew to tell them my plan.

“Geoff, I got some info on the Haywood family and how they usually plan out these events. Like security and guest lists and everything like that. I also dug up that it isn’t the big man himself in charge of it, it’s actually his son, James, who’s putting together the whole show.”

Geoff and the others looked up at me as I spoke, taking in all the info, I looked to Kdin.

“I’ll need your help, Kdin. They have this really secure guest list that I need you to hack into. That way we can put in fake names so we can sneak in. And that way we can find someone on the list that we could try to steal their invitation to make copies of it,” I said as I went over my own written notes.

“Gav, where did you come across such information?” Geoff asked.

“I had a feeling that this wouldn’t be an easy job, so I asked…an old friend of mine to look into the family and see what we could do. He told me about all that the Haywood family and how they do their business.”

“So who’s this friend of yours, Gavin?” Jack asked afterwards.

“He’d rather not be involved, asked me not to even tell you his name,” I lied. Jack nodded and took my notes when I handed them to him. He and Geoff read them over and gave them back. Everyone hung around as we worked out the heist together. I had done some more digging after my visit with Burnie and actually found that the theme for this year’s charity event was going to be a Masquerade Ball. It would be perfect so we would all be wearing masks. That would make it easy for me to slip away from the gang when we get there.

But would make finding Ryan difficult and keeping track of the others even harder. I suggested that our masks would look almost identical; they would be black masks with a green star over one of the eyes. The other details were up to the person. Ray could always help me out too, keeping me informed on where they guys were. Geoff liked the idea of our masks looking similar so we could move around and still be able to find each other. Lindsay came in with the floor plans to the Haywood mansion, since that’s where the ball would be held. Going over the info from “an old friend,” Geoff was already able to mostly make out a plan with Jack. While they were planning different positions, I was looking at the rooms, taking note that the bedrooms and guest rooms where towards the back of the mansion.

If I was going to manage to meet up with Ryan, getting away from the party would probably be best. I excused myself from the planning, but Geoff stopped me.

“Gavin, go meet with Kdin, like you said earlier, your friend wrote some notes on hacking into their system and getting some fake names on the list for us to get in. Once he’s in, you add the names, and nothing fucking stupid, okay? Make sure there’s enough for everyone, well aside from Ryan since he’s not here.”

“Got it, I’ll go see him now.”

I walked over to Kdin’s office, smirking as I walked in, he looked up from his screen, pulling his headphones off his ears.

“What’s up, Gavin?”

“Geoff wanted me to tell you about hacking into the Haywood’s guest list to add our cover names. Do you mind getting started on that?”

“Yeah, no problem. I have an extra seat over here so you can sit while I get in,” Kdin told me as he started typing away on his keyboard. I shrugged and joined him at his desk. I watched as he hacked into the guest list, seeing how his hands flew over the keyboard like it was nothing. Ryan had some ability to work computers, but Kdin was far superior for what he can get into. It only took minutes before he was breaking down the security in place for the Haywoods. Soon he was in, and a long list of names started filling his screen.

“Well, we’re in,” he said enthusiastically, printing off the list of names, “this will be good for us later on. Now, let’s add our cover names to it.”

We started figuring out names to put in, ones that Geoff wouldn’t be annoyed at. We wrote them down as we entered them. I looked up at the door as Kdin typed them in.

“Hey Kdin, I think I heard Geoff calling for you,” I said to him, he looked up at me and shrugged, getting up.

“Finish typing the last couple names in, I’ll finish up when I get back,” he said as he stood, walking out the door. I quickly moved over, started typing. But before I finished our cover names, I went and added my real name to the list. And there happened to be a notes section beside the names, some names having info next to them about who they were and other things. After I added my name, I typed in the notes section that I was a close business partner to James Haywood, and is to be escorted to him once I arrived. I quickly went back and finished typing the names in as Kdin came back.

“He said he didn’t call for me, you must’ve been hearing things, Gav,” he sighed. I apologized and watched as he closed the guest list after making sure it was saved. He didn’t seem to notice my extra name added, nor did he give me a look to imply that he knew. I watched as he closed it down and he handed me the list of names before we edited it.

“Go give this to Geoff. Never know if we may need it in the future.”

“Got it, thanks for the help Kdin,” I smirked as I left, walking out with the others, I handed Jack the list of names.

“This is the original list of names for those invited to the Haywood’s for the event. Maybe you and Geoff could use it. Plus we can find an invitation through one of them for the fake ones.”

“That’s great, Gavin. Good work. You’ve really put in a lot of work this time around, any particular reason?” he asked.

“Nah,” I shrugged, “I just knew this would be a big job so I just got some help so we have a good head start before anything went wrong.”

Jack laughed, “I guess that’s true, we do have a problem with messing a few heists up. Too bad Ryan isn’t here. He may be insane, but he’s definitely smart when it comes to planning heists out.”

“Maybe it’s rubbing off on me since I’ve been living with him,” I joked.

“Hopefully not, that would mean your idiocy would be rubbing off on him. And we really don’t need that.”

“Hey!” I fake gasped, making him laugh more. I walked away to sit on the couch with Michael, taking one of the unopened beers next to him. We kinda just sat there for a while until Ray came in with black masks all made up, all fairly simple in their designs but all had the green star on them in some form. We all picked them out so their wouldn’t be fights over them later on. Mine having the star going over my left eye. I wrote my name on the inside to claim it, everyone doing the same for theirs. We returned them to the box brought them in for safe keeping. At least that annoying part was done and we wouldn’t have to make our own. Definitely would be a waste of time if you asked me.

When we had a day where we weren’t doing much, we went and bought new suits for the night of the charity. I had my own that Ryan had bought, but I couldn’t afford them with my own makings from the crew so I had to buy a much cheaper one with everyone. They all pretty much looked the same so we would blend in with the crowd.

The days were counting down for the night of the party and I was only getting more nervous. With it now only a couple weeks away, our final preparations were starting to take place. Lindsay was able to steal an invitation from one of the guests on the list so we were able to make our copies of the invitations. Geoff put them all with the masks we got earlier on. After hanging out and working on our plan for a while, I excused myself and went outside. After a few minutes, I texted Ray to meet me at my apartment later that night. I put my phone away and got on my bike, riding back home.

A couple hours later, Ray knocked came over, I let him in and we sat in the living room. We fixed ourselves something quick to eat and we sat in silence at first, but I spoke up soon enough.

“Only a couple weeks away…I’m not sure if I’m ready for this,” I admitted, Ray smiling sympathetically.

“I know you can do it, Vav. Despite all the shit we give you, you’re actually really smart and can handle a lot than we give you credit for.”

“You really think that?” I asked.

“Yep, we all do, actually. So if anyone is able to pull off what we’re doing, it’s definitely you. You’re incredibly brave,” he smirked.

“I guess I’m just really nervous about meeting up with Ryan then. Which reminds me, we need to talk about what I’m going to be doing.”

“Alright,” he said, “tell me everything.”

*~*~*~*

I said my goodbyes as Ray left, me being too tired to leave and walk him out. I went to my bedroom and laid on the bed, I took a deep breath as I went over the plan in my head. I was thankful that Ray thought it would work, he really will help me out throughout this whole thing.

I pulled out my phone and looked at the old photo of Ryan and me. I sighed as I looked at it, closing my eyes and holding my phone close.

“Please let everything go alright. Let Ryan be safe…”

I looked over at the clock, it wasn’t that late but I just felt really exhausted. Maybe it was the stress that the heist was coming up, I wasn’t entirely sure. But I decided to just watch a couple movies until I just fell asleep on the bed, dreaming of Ryan.

*~*~*~*

I stood at the window to my apartment, heart racing. I barely heard Ray come in, him standing at the door.

“Hey, you almost ready? We have to meet up with everyone at the shop. Geoff wants us all in our suits. He’s gonna hand out our invitations and masks. You got your other one hidden, right?”

I turned to face him, straightening out my tie before checking my pocket for my second invitation, the one with my actual name on it. Thankfully I was able to sneak out one of the fake ones and get this one made.

“Uh, yeah…I got everything. I’ll switch them out when we get there since I’ll be the last one to get out of the car. I can toss the one with my cover name out then. You know what you have to do?”

“Yep, I remember everything. Thankfully Geoff is keeping me near him so it’ll be easier to keep you informed on him. Just make sure that you watch out for the others too, okay? I got Geoff since he’ll be calling all the shots, but if I tell you about anything, you’ll have to pay attention to the others.”

“Right. Well, let’s not keep them waiting. We both know how annoyed they get,” I sighed, passing him as I walked out the apartment. He put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me, giving it a good squeeze.

“Don’t worry too much, we got this. Ryan will be fine. We’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

We rode to the shop together, meeting up with the others who were all dressed up. We chatted for a little bit until Geoff came out of his office.

“Alright…tonight’s the night. This is gonna be one of the biggest heist yet. The Haywood family won’t know what’s gonna hit them. The Fake AH Crew is gonna once again shout to the city who really runs the show!” Geoff boasted, we all cheered in our small group. Had this been any other heist, I’d be much more excited. But the adrenaline rush I know I’ll get will definitely be a needed boost when I get to Ryan. Hopefully he won’t be too angry with me getting sent to him when we get there, but he might not since I did it to warn him.

We all went outside and to my surprise there was a limo on the street, we all looked to Geoff.

“I managed to get a hold of a friend who owed me a favor. Gotta look the part, you know?”

While outside, Geoff handed us all our invitations. I held mine close but didn’t put it in my pocket. As everyone climbed in, I stayed in the back, switching my invitations. Putting the one with my name in my coat pocket, the other with my cover name just folded up and placed in my back pocket. I climbed in and sat next to Ray. Michael handed me a beer and one to everyone aside from Ray, I thanked him and took a drink, finishing it quickly. Michael teased me about being nervous and we had our usual argument about me being an idiot soon afterwards.

Once we got there, I got out with the others. We pulled down our masks and split up from each other as we all waited to enter. I made sure to stay near the back so everyone went in first. I watched closely as one by one, everyone filed in and made their way to their positions, soon I was the only one left and I walked up to enter, being stopped.

“Your name and invitation please, sir,” the guard asked. I pulled out my invitation, checking to make sure it was the one I needed, handing it to him.

“My name is Gavin Free,” I informed him. After a moment, the guard found my name and saw the note next to it.

“Welcome to the Haywood Mansion, Mr. Free,” he greeted, gesturing me to another guard, “he will show you to Mr. Haywood.”

“James Haywood, correct?” I asked to clarify, he nodded.

“Yes, there is a mention that you are to be shown to Mr. James Haywood, please enjoy your evening.”

I thanked the guard and let the second walk ahead of me. I kept my head low but looked for the others, so far none of them seemed to have seen me. I looked for Ray, I saw him near Geoff, but still out of speaking range should he need to call me. Ray saw me too and nodded. I walked closely with the guard until we were near the back of the big ball room, where there were tables set up. And behind all the round tables were large long tables, as big as rooms almost. And I would see there were a few people sat at them.

They all wore lightly colored masks but it didn’t take long for me to find Ryan. He sat at the edge of the group, drink in hand that he didn’t seem too interested in. His hair was nicely kept and looked lighter in color. He was cleanly shaven and dressed in a beautiful white suit with a blue undercoat. His mask being mostly white also with blue edging. Despite the blue on his mask and his blue clothes, his shining blue eyes seem to shine through it all, still being one of the most perfect features about him.

I kept a still face as we approached him and the group he was sat next to. He noticed us first and stood. He seemed so much taller when he was all dressed up and proper. The guard walked up to him, nodding to him.

“Mr. Haywood, your business partner has arrived.”

“My business partner?” Ryan asked, confusion in his tone. The guard nodded, stepping to the side for me to be in line of sight.

“Yes, sir. May I present Mr. Gavin Free,” the guard said, motioning to me. Ryan snapped his head to me once my name was mentioned, eyes wide as he took in that I was standing right in front of him. When he didn’t say anything for a second, I looked to the guard.

“Thank you for your time, you may return to your post, sir,” I said to him, he nodded before excusing himself. I watched him walk away for a moment before reluctantly turning back to face Ryan. I wasn’t sure what to say to him but he held his hand up. He excused himself from the others behind him before walking past me, putting his hand on my back, leading me to the staircase that went upstairs. We went up and he walked us to the railing that looked over the ball room. It was truly beautiful, seeing it so full of people. Ryan grabbed my shoulder, turning me to face him. He didn’t appear to be angry at the moment, mostly just a worried glare at me.

“Gavin, why are you here?”


	5. Chapter 5

“Gavin, I asked you a question. What on earth are you doing here!?”

I opened my mouth but the words got stuck in my mouth, I closed it again, thinking of how to word it.

“If you think I’m mad, I’m not. I just need to know why. Please Gavin,” Ryan asked.

“I-it’s the crew,” I said quietly, I almost thought he didn’t hear but his eyes widened.

“The crew? What about them?”

“They’re here,” I said, “on a heist.”

Ryan’s jaw clenched, looking over the crowd of people before turning back, looking worried.

“Why here?”

“Their heist was to hit your family. But technically they’re gonna steal the donation money and the things that are going to be auctioned off tonight. I tried everything to get a hold of you, believe me I did. I wanted to warn you that we were going to be here, but when I couldn’t get to you, I knew I just had to tell you myself,” I said, speaking a bit too fast but he understood what I was saying, he paced a bit before turning to me.

“Does Geoff know-“

“No, no one knows aside from Ray. He’s actually helping me out right now by keeping an eye on Geoff. In case he sees me or when he’s gonna put his plans into action.”

“How do you know where everyone is? It’s super crowded in here,” he frowned, crossing his arms.

“All our masks are similar. Black with this green star. Placement of the star is a little different, but other than that, they’re mostly the same. All our suits look the same too, I couldn’t wear the one you got me,” I shrugged.

“Don’t worry about that, just tell me where they are.”

As I was about to show him where they all were, my phone rang. Ryan looked at me as I pulled it out, seeing Ray’s name on the screen. My brows furrow together, he was only to call if Geoff was figuring things out.

I answered but didn’t say anything, listening to Ray.

“Bad news, Geoff found out you’re not in your spot. He’s having the others looking for you, I see you at the balcony with Ryan, but if Geoff sees you and asks someone, he’ll know you’re with James Haywood. Who knows what he’ll do after that. Get somewhere more private and out of sight, now!”

He hung up; looking up with wide eyes, I faced Ryan.

“Geoff knows I’m not where I’m supposed to be. Ray just told me he’s having everyone looking around. If they find me with you, they’ll know you’re James since a lot of people know who you are if they ask around.”

“This isn’t good,” Ryan said, looking over the crowed, eyes narrowing. I followed his gaze and saw Geoff and Jack talking, looking around the crowd, looking for me. I looked around behind where we were stood, seeing guests walking around. A few women gathered around a table that was full of decorative masks covered in beads and feathers to look more exotic. I motioned to the table and Ryan smirked.

“Good thinking, I’ll get you a simple one for you to switch out of. It’ll make it harder for them to find you.”

He quickly went and grabbed a green and blue mask on the table. It had the least decorations on it and handed it to me. As I was switching, my phone rang once more, Ryan grabbed it and answered when he said it was Ray. Once my masks were changed, I looked up at him. His face paled as he listened to Ray, he hung up and handed me my phone. He was about to say something when gun shots rang out through the mansion. Ryan immediately pulled me down, looking towards the crowed.

“Ray said that Michael spotted you and told Geoff. Geoff must’ve watched you switch your mask and took matters into his own hands. I don’t know if my security can handle them but we need to get out of here. Now.”

I nodded and we stood carefully. The guys were shooting the guards mostly but Geoff and Jack were trying to get to us, Ray behind them. Ryan grabbed my arms as he pulled me up, I felt ice in my veins when I heard Geoff screaming behind me. We started to run towards the back when there were more gun shots. At one point Ryan shoved me away before he collapsed. I sat up, looking back, not seeing the others yet before looking to Ryan. I quickly moved over to him, started to pull him to get him to get him to stand but he groaned in pain. I quickly looked him over before I stopped at his shoulder, blood seeping through the white suit as it bled. I tried to lift him up a bit to see if there was an exit wound, but I saw none.

“Shit, the bullet is still inside…” I cursed, “Ry-James! Come on, get up. We need to get out of here!”

After a moment, Ryan was able to push through the pain and started to stand. A few guards were up here, I stopped them from trying to get Ryan, pointing at the staircase the others were trying to get to.

“The Fake AH Crew are coming from that way! Stop them first! I’ll take care of James! Go!!”

They ran past us as I lifted Ryan, he held onto me as we hurried towards the back. We rushed through the hallways, Ryan showing me how to go through to the back where the garage was. I heard yelling a ways behind us so I know Geoff was still coming. I was trying not to panic so I kept up a steady pace as I helped Ryan move along. Occasionally he’d grunt in pain, but he tried to hold it in for my sake. We made it to the far end of the hall when Geoff shouted from near the other side.

“GAVIN!! You and Haywood are dead!!” He shouted as he shot towards us. Ryan wasn’t hit again but he still pushed me aside in case but fell again. He struggled to get up but Geoff was running towards us. I fought every emotion inside me before I pulled my gun out, shooting towards Geoff. I made sure not to hit anywhere near him, just made him duck for cover. Once Ryan was on his feet, I told him to get down the stairs to the garage door before I left. He reluctantly agreed and started making his way down.

It took longer than I wanted but I eventually heard him calling for me. I took a couple more shots in Geoff’s direction before running down, Ryan went into the garage, going to one of the faster cars.

“Get in the back,” I shouted, “that way you can lay down and stay out of sight!”

He nodded and climbed in, laying down across the seats. I jumped into the driver’s seat, there only being a push to start button. Ryan must’ve had the wireless key if that’s why he chose this car. I sped out the garage, weaving my way through all the cars before reaching the street and taking off before the cops showed up. Even as we drove away, all I could hear were gun shots.

Soon enough we finally made it back home to our apartment. I stopped the car and killed the engine, going to the back door, helping Ryan get out.

“You doing alright?” I asked worriedly, the bloodstain on his suit had been spreading quickly, he was still bleeding pretty bad, but he nodded.

“Y-yeah, j-just get me inside. W-we got that f-first aid kit in the kitchen that you can use to f-fix me up. Just in case either of us got injured during a mission with the crew,” he wheezed as I helped him out of the car. I supported a lot of his weight as we went in through the back door, going to the elevator to head up to our apartment. Ryan tried to take some of the weight off of me, but I just told him not to worry, but he still tried to stand on his own.

I walked him down the hall to our door, unlocking it and walking in. Ryan got off of me and stumbled inside.

“I-I’m going to the bedroom. G-grab the medical kid, on the shelf above the fridge…gonna get my coat and shirt off,” he groaned.

“Okay, just go sit down. I’ll be in to patch you up,” I said as I turned and locked the door up. I went to the kitchen, climbing onto the countertop to reach the shelf, grabbing the kit. I hopped back down, going to our bedroom; Ryan sat on the bed as he carefully pulled his shirt off. I sat the kit down on the night stand and helped him pull the blood soaked shirt off. I frowned at how it still was bleeding a bit, throwing his shirt aside.

“I’m gonna get some water, towels, and a chair for you. I’ll be right back,” I said, he nodded.

I quickly got the towels and chair, Ryan moving to it, sitting on it backwards and crossing his arms over the back. I went back to the kitchen for the water, letting it warm up a little bit before getting a bowl as well as a bottle of alcohol and disinfectant. I went back, pouring some alcohol in a small dish I grabbed, placing the clamp in it to kill any germs. I took a rag and poured some of the disinfectant on it, starting to wipe away the blood and cleaning out the wound a bit.

Ryan tensed up a bit but forced himself to relax, cursing under his breath. I grabbed the long clamp, shaking off the excess alcohol, and carefully started sliding it into the bullet wound. Ryan cursed louder, actually flinching that time. I used my free hand to hold his shoulder, trying to hold him steady a bit as I pushed the clamp to the bottom of it, feeling the bullet. I opened it slowly so I didn’t force the injury to open too much. I carefully moved it lower over the bullet, grasping it and started pulling it up.

“F-fuck,” Ryan cursed, “i-it’s been awhile since I got shot…f-forgot how painful i-it is t-to get it removed.”

“I’m sorry, Ryan,” I frowned.

“N-not your fault…it was gonna hurt e-either way,” he grunted.

“I-I mean for all of this…I was just so worried that you would get hurt, or killed…I’m so sorry about this.”

“Gavin, I wanna talk about it later, b-but for now just know that you made the right call. I would have had no idea that you were there. It could’ve gone a lot worse than it did tonight. Thank you,” he said, smiling.

I couldn’t tell if he was just trying to make me feel better right now, but it did. I went back to pulling the bullet out. It caught on the flesh a bit but it came out. I dropped it into the dish of alcohol, rinsing off the blood before looking at it.

“It doesn’t look like it broke apart. But I can always look later, we should get it cleaned up at least.”

Ryan picked it up when I put it back down, looking at it himself, pushing his mask up off his face that he probably forgot he was wearing.

“Yeah, doesn’t look like there would be other pieces. Let’s check tomorrow though,” he agreed, putting it back down.

I poured more disinfectant into the wound, Ryan flinching a bit again but not as bad. I grabbed the needle and thread, getting the suture made up and started sewing it close. Ryan didn’t react so the pain from the shot and it being pulled out must have numbed the skin around it a bit. I got it fixed up and used the warm water to wash off the blood. I started taping some gauze on it, then wrapped him up in bandages hold it on. Afterwards, I put all the utensils in the bowl of water and stood in front of him. I could help but his gently grab his face, crushing my lips against his. Ryan immediately kissed back, cupping my cheek, rubbing it soothingly with his thumb.

“Thanks for fixing me up,” he smirked. I chuckled, pulling his mask back down.

“Keep that on, you look like shit without it. And grab something to keep warm, I’ll get this stuff cleaned up,” I said, getting everything that I could as I took it to the kitchen. Ryan rolled his eyes and went to the closet as I walked out. I took everything to the sink, started running the water and quickly started washing all the tools. It was rather quiet in the apartment, I thought maybe Ryan went to bed. Made sense after all.

I turned to go check on him but was met with a hard hit to the face. I fell to the floor with a thud, pinned down right after. I looked up and saw an absolutely pissed off Geoff above me, my eyes widened as I look past and saw the others, all but Ray looking pissed, seeing for a quick second that Lindsay must have picked the lock. Michael looked like he could rip my head off as Geoff brought my attention back to him by pointing a gun to my forehead.

“I ought to blow your god damn brains out, Free! How dare you after all we did for you, you went against all of us!! You snitched to Haywood. I saw you talking to him, switching your masks so we couldn’t find you! And you fucking shot at me. Where the fuck is James Haywood!? Where are you hiding him?”

“G-Geoff!!” I cried, “y-you don’t understand!! It isn’t what it looked like, I swear!”

“Then you better fucking explain yourself before I change my fucking mind!” he screamed. I tried to find the words as the gun clicked as he readied to shoot me in the head.

“He can’t explain it,” a voice came behind us, my eyes widened as I looked to Ryan in the hallway, his signature black and blue leather jacket draped over his shoulders as he brought his hand up to pull off the masquerade mask, revealing his identity.

“But I can,” he said, venom in his words as he held out his gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably will only be about 1 or 2 more chapters left. I'm not entirely sure, it just won't be near as long as More Than Just a Crew Member.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I took so long again ;__; The next chapter will probably be the last. I never planned this to be a very long sequel. I will work on other GTA5!AU fics in the future. Not specifically Freewood, other ships as well different from this particular story.

It was painfully tense as everyone stood in our apartment, Geoff still pinning me down with a gun pressed to my head. Ryan stood there, glaring at him.

“So what? You were dressed up as James Haywood?” Geoff scoffed, “Doesn’t change the fact that you and Gavin were sneaking around behind our backs.”

“You’re incredibly dense, Geoff,” Ryan rolled his eyes, Michael roared in rage when he said that, launching himself at Ryan. Despite just starting to recover from being shot, Ryan was still able to catch Michael mid swing and knock him to the floor, gun now aimed at the curly haired lad. I looked at Michael and he just glared at Ryan, glaring at me when he looked in my direction.

“Everyone needs to calm the fuck down!” Jack shouted, coming towards us. He pulled Geoff up and off of me; I stood up and stumbled over to the kitchen table, sitting in a chair and taking a deep breath. Ryan backed up from Michael, lowering his gun as my friend also stood up, he came over and sat next to me, taking heavy breaths from taking Michael down, grabbing his shoulder. Geoff fumed for a moment or so while Jack held him up until he also calmed down.

“Now,” Jack said, “They do have some explaining to do, but killing them isn’t gonna help in the fucking slightest.”

“Fine,” Geoff grumbled, straightening his clothes, putting away his gun before looking back to us, “What did you mean by I was dense, Ryan?”

“I wasn’t fucking dressed up as James Haywood, Geoff,” he sighed, “I AM James Haywood. Ryan Vagabond is my cover name.”

“Why on earth would James fucking Haywood be a fucking hitman in the Fake AH Crew?” Geoff glared, Ryan shrugged.

“I wanted something to do,” he smirked, Geoff narrowing his eyes, “I just was sick of being a fucking rich kid, okay? I wanted to earn my place somewhere. So I made up a new name and decided to make a new life for myself. I have to do things for my family, but I’ve spent most of my time here with you guys. I didn’t want who I was give you any impression on if you wanted me in the crew just for the money or didn’t because of who I was.”

“When did Gavin find out about this?” Lindsay asked.

“After we started dating, he heard some girls calling me by my real name so I told him, so he kept it a secret.”

“Wait,” Geoff said with wide eyes, looking to me, “so when Burnie had you..”

“Yep, I knew who he was,” I said, “I just never admitted it. Burnie’s hunch was right, he does have a secret identity.”

“You told me you would explain yourself to me during all that,” he said, turning back to Ryan, “Why did you lie to me!?”

“Oh, I had every intention of telling you. But when Gavin went into a coma, I didn’t want to tell you. I wanted to have something stay the same in my life when I thought I was never going to see him again!”

“Does anyone else know?” Geoff finally asked, I glanced to Ray, he just looked indifferent.

“No one else knew,” Ryan said, meeting Geoff’s stare.

“That’s not true…” Ray spoke up finally, everyone turning to him as he walked to our side, “I knew. Ryan told while Gavin was kidnapped. Telling you would just cause problems during the time, Geoff. So I just never told you, since Ryan got him back, I trusted him.”

“All three of you lied to me about this! I should kill all of you!” Geoff growled, fists clenched.

“Geoff,” Ryan spoke, “it was my choice to tell them about me. I purposely took Gavin to a place where he’d find out. I didn’t know how else to tell him. And I told Ray because you all were losing faith in me when Washington and I couldn’t find Gavin, I needed his help so I had to tell him. If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at me. But don’t drag them into this.”

“They’ve known for almost ten years, Ryan. They were dragged into it a long time ago.”

Ryan glared at Geoff, sighing and got up, clutching his shoulder. I also got up, helping him steady himself.

“You’re right, Geoff, they were dragged in. But what are you going to do about this? About us?”

Geoff was still tense, I looked at him pleadingly, when he looked at me he relaxed a bit.

“In all honesty….I don’t know what to do. I’m absolutely pissed at all three of you for lying to me! Though…you’ve all done so much despite this. But how do I know that you haven’t lied to us all about anything else?”

“To be perfectly honest, any other lies we have told you are remaining as such since they aren’t any of your concern,” Ryan hissed, not backing down. Geoff returned his glare, they others getting tense about this whole situation, Kdin stepping up.

“Guys, look,” he started, “We’re all super worn out and Ryan’s exhausted. Maybe we should talk about this after we’ve all gotten some rest. Maybe in a few days while Ryan’s shoulder heals up a but?”

“I agree with Kdin,” Jack said.

Michael stood with Lindsay, not saying a word. Lindsay seemed to want to help Ryan with his injury though by the way she was looking at him, she glanced to me.

“I patched Ryan up when we got back home, he’s fine in that sense,” I told her as she nodded.

Geoff eventually sighed in defeat, “Alright, fine. We’ll meet up next week like we usually do. But Ryan? You, Gavin, and Ray better not be late. I swear if you are even a minute late, I might just blow your brains out.”

“Geoff…we’ll be there,” I said, Ryan grumbling about something, “Ry, go back to the bedroom and get some rest…I’ll be there shortly…”

He nodded and after a fairly bitter farewell to the others, he walked back to our room. I faced the others, Ray still standing near me while everyone was just sort of standing around me.

“Geoff, I want you to know that I am sorry…none of this was supposed to happen,” I frowned. Geoff smiled softly, ruffling my hair.

“I know, Buddy. I know. We should get going, take care Gavin…Oh, and tell Ryan that I’m sorry about shooting him. And if things don’t go well at the meet up, I’ll take that apology back,” he said as he turned and waved as he walked out, the others soon following.

Ray was the last to leave, he turned and smiled at me before shutting the door.

I hope everything goes well…I’m not sure what else we have to talk about but we’ll find out soon enough. I locked up the doors again and was finishing up my cleaning. I was about to walk to the bedroom, I noticed the mail I had forgotten about earlier today since we had our heist. I decided just took quickly look through them. Most of it was all junk mail since Ryan paid all the bills. I was about to just toss all of it but then I saw a plain looking envelope addressed to me and was shocked and surprised to find that it was from the Los Santos Prison. I gulped and opened the letter, knowing that it was from Burnie. So I just took a few breaths and started reading the letter.

_“Gavin,_

_If you’re reading this, you must have completed your task in rescuing “Mr. James Haywood.” Anyway, to keep this brief, I wish to make a deal with you. If you come to the prison with Vagabond in the next few days, and you listen to my terms and agree to them, I will confess to Dan’s murder. Can’t wait to see you again._

_Until then.”_

I clutched the paper, reading the words over and over. Was he really serious about this? Confessing to Dan’s murder all those years ago? I had talked to Ryan about testifying against Burnie when he would be sent to England for his trial once he was done serving his sentence here. I did have my doubts though, he did say I have to agree to his conditions, but I have no idea what they could even be. I folded up the paper and stuck it in my wallet. I threw the envelop and junk mail into the trash and went to the bedroom, seeing Ryan sleeping on my side of the bed. Probably so he wouldn’t bump into me with his shoulder while he was sleeping.

I quietly changed into something more comfortable to sleep in and made my way to the bed, slowly laying down and turning to look out the window, my back to Ryan. I watched the city as it was all lit up beautifully, closing my eyes to fall asleep but was suddenly rolled onto my back. I looked to see Ryan was actually still awake, an eyebrow raised.

“You wanna talk about something?” he asked.

“I-I…uh…?” I mumbled, Ryan smirking.

“You aren’t curled up against me, your back is to me, and you didn’t kiss me goodnight. So that means that something’s on your mind. Do you wanna talk about it now? Since we’re both still awake?”

I sat up and sighed, looking at Ryan, smirking sheepishly.

“Is it about Geoff and the others?” Ryan asked, I shook my head, frowning. Groaning a bit, he managed to sit up with me on the bed.

“Okay then…what is it about?”

“It’s about….Burnie..” I said, glancing down at my hands, my fingers lacing together in nervousness.

“Burns? What about him? You haven’t spoken to me about him in…over a year now? Why suddenly are you thinking about him?”

He didn’t sound angry or annoyed, just curious. I looked up at him and shrugged a bit, but Ryan knew me much better than that. He just stared at me until I gave in.

“Well….I recently went to visit him at the prison,” I said, “he um….he helped me.”

Ryan’s curiosity slowly went to confusion and a bit of anger.

“Helped you? Why would you need his help? Why on Earth would he actually help you for?”

“He helped me to figure out how to save you,” I sighed, “He told me what I needed to do to make sure I got to you to tell you about the heist. It was his idea to sneak into the event so I could talk to you.”

“Wait. So you’re telling me that not only have you been talking to Burns again, but you actually took his advice to crash the charity event and trusted that his plan would work!? What the fuck Gavin!! Why!? You know what he did to you!!” he shouted at me.

“Of course I know what he did, damn it!” I shouted back, “You think going to him was my first choice!? I needed help. I called everyone I could. They either wouldn’t help me because I wouldn’t tell them the full reasons or because they didn’t want to go up against betraying the Fake AH Crew. Burnie was my absolute last chance at getting help. I wouldn’t have gone to him if there was any other possibility that someone else would help. There were no other options! Your life was in danger and I couldn’t let anything happen to you!”

“So what happened then?” He asked, still angry about this.

“I went to the prison, told him my situation, asked for his help and he agreed. Simple as that.”

“That can’t be all to it, Gavin…” he frowned.

“W-well it is…” I tried.

“Gavin please, just talk to me. I know I’m mad but I’m just so confused about why you would go to him.”

“I told him…I told him about who you are and he genuinely seemed surprised about it. I told him about you hiding it from the others and about the charity and how I needed his help. He agreed to help me and we…chatted for a little bit,” I admitted to him, it was so hard to lie to Ryan so I just stopped trying to.

He was pretty angry when I said I told Burnie about his true identity but before he said anything, my last comment caught him off guard.

“’Chatted’? What did you guys chat about?”

“At first it was why he should help…I made a bit of a joke of it. And he…actually laughed. Not one of those ‘I’m better than everyone’ laughs, but an actual laugh. I also asked about how he was doing, just mainly to clear the tension in the room I was feeling at the time and he opened up to be about it. He told me that it was very enlightening and that even though he doesn’t regret a lot of what he did, he saw how corrupted he was by power. He, umm, also said that he saw guys beating up others like how he would be with me and he could only see himself and me in them. He told me he regrets what he did…”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Ryan asked, “After all those years, a few years in jail and suddenly he’s a saint because he regrets what he did!?”

“I honestly don’t know. I didn’t really question it at the time because I just needed his help. He seemed genuine about it to me.”

“Gavin…”

“Look, either way it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he told me that we both have to go see him. He said in the next few days after I made sure you were safe. We can go after we talk to the others. And he told me…that he’ll confess to Dan’s murder. But only if I agree to his terms, which he’ll tell me about when we go.”

“Burns will confess?” he asked, his curiosity returning, “Why would he do that? He seems too prideful to admit guilt to a murder.”

He sat in thought for a moment, thinking over what I told him. I glanced up at him, frowning.

“You…you’re not mad, are you?”

He grimaced a bit, “I wouldn’t say ‘mad.’ More shocked and maybe a little annoyed that you would go to him for anything.”

“I’m sorry…” I whispered, he wrapped his good arm around me and held me close, kissing the top of my head.

“Don’t apologize…you would go speak to the man who nearly ended your life just so you could save me. I can’t say I agree with it, but I see how far you would be willing to go just to make sure I survive. I love you Gavin, you never have to doubt that.”

I curled into his side once we laid back down in bed, my arms wrapped around his middle as we both fell asleep. Oh how I missed holding onto him while I slept. These past three months were the worst without him here.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All things must come to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for taking so long to finish this! Please forgive me! I hope that giving you a longer chapter would help, and I hope you've enjoyed the story!

The days passed slowly, mostly because Ryan and I spent our days at home so I could take care of his wound. He was healing pretty nicely and I was happy that it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. I checked a couple times to make sure the bullet didn’t break apart when he was first shot and I happened to miss any pieces. Thankfully I found none so I just kept it clean re-bandaged it a couple times a day.

A week had gone by and we hadn’t been called in by the rest of the Fake AH Crew. I’m hoping nothing is wrong but it’s hard to tell at this point. But as luck would have it, my phone rang and I picked it up, seeing Geoff was calling.

“Yeah, Geoff?” I answered, Ryan looking up from his newspaper as he sat next to me, eyes narrow.

“Alright, we’re not gonna make a huge deal if you two just listen. Just come down here like usual and we’ll all just sit down and discuss what’s gonna happen here. I’m not completely off the ‘don’t kill them’ bit, so make sure you know your place. Get down here now,” Geoff muttered, hanging up before I could get a word in. I put my phone away and looked to Ryan.

“Guess it’s time to go, Rye-Bread…you ready?” I frowned.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said dryly as he stood, grabbing his leather jacket and putting it on. He grunted as he shifted wrong but got it on. He picked his mask up, holding it in his hands, sighing as he once more pulled it over his head, hiding his face. I smiled weakly at him before we left together, we went to the back of the apartment, Ryan pulling his bike out and we hopped on, quickly taking off and riding through Los Santos.

Once we got there, we could tell most of the lights were off. We parked the bike and walked in together, everyone was there, staring at us as we came in the door. I did my best to ignore the stares and Ryan seemed to not notice at all, we walked past everyone and we sat in front of Geoff. He looked as bitter as always, but stress had seemed to have aged him a bit. Everyone was silent while Geoff stared us down.

The silence was almost deafening, I actually jumped a little when I heard sirens out in town from something going on. The break of silence seemed to get Geoff to talk as well.

“I’ve thought long and hard about everything that’s happened, boys. Do you honestly expect me to be okay with you two…or three I should say,” he mentioned as he glanced to Ray who only looked away, “for lying to me for all these years? To be okay with James fucking Haywood to be in my crew?”

I couldn’t think of anything to say, but Ryan did.

“I would say no on most situations. But I actually do think you to be okay with it. We proved time and time again that we’re the best of the best. I wanted to prove to myself that just because I was some rich kid, didn’t mean I couldn’t work for what I deserved. I’ve put my life on the line for this crew for years. So has Gavin. Of anyone here, you should be glad that we still want to be here, even after Gavin’s coma. You shouldn’t be okay with it, no, but we want you to be. Because you need us. Whether you like it or not.”

“Ryan..” I frowned.

“No, Gavin,” Geoff murmured, “he’s right. I do need you…which is why I’m letting you live and letting you stay in the crew.”

I stared at him, mouth open, “You’re serious!?”

Geoff nodded.

“But…we…”

“Gavin, you and Ryan have a strong bond to each other and to this crew. Everyone has their secrets. I have plenty of my own. You have yours. I thought about this all week, Gav, I trust you both…just don’t disappoint me.”

He stood after that, dismissing the rest of the crew. I turned to Ryan after everyone was gone and it was just us after we said our goodbyes to the others.

“Ryan, I um..I got another letter from Burnie. He’s getting angry, we need to go see him this weekend…” I said softly, Ryan hummed in thought.

“Alright, we’ll make a visit this weekend. I’m just worried about what he wants from you, Gavin. It can’t be good.”

“I know, Ry…but what choice do we have? He said he’d admit to Dan’s murder, we’ve got to at least hear him out. Please.”

“I didn’t say we weren’t going, let’s just go back home for now, we can talk more there. Come on, you can call the prison and have whoever’s working tell Burnie we’ll be there this weekend. That way you don’t have to talk to him yourself. Let’s get going,” he smirked as we walked out. I climbed into the car and made the call real quick just to get it over with so we wouldn’t have to worry about Burnie until this weekend.

We got back to our apartment, I stretched as we walked in, taking off my jacket and hanging it up. Ryan was behind me, pulling off his mask, face paint smeared all over himself. As he went to the kitchen to clean himself up a bit, I went to our room to change. I quickly got undressed and went to the closet, pulling out something lose that I could lounge around in. I went back to the kitchen where Ryan was, finding him in a bit of an odd situation.

“Uh…Ryan? Is your…hair tangled up on the faucet?” I asked. He was bent over the counter, one hand on the faucet and the other in his hair, “How the hell did you manage that? I told you that you needed a haircut.”

“Shut up Gav, come give me a hand here!” he huffed, I grinned and walked over, carefully pulling the tangles apart until he was free.

“What happened? Lose a fight to a sink, Love?”

“Fuck off,” he blushed, “face paint got into my hair so when I was trying to wash it out, some of it got caught because I didn’t realize I was near the damn thing.”

“Oh go grab a towel and dry your hair, I know how to fix this.”

He left and I started looking through our drawers, I know we had something somewhere….I just gotta find it.

He came back a few minutes later, towel in hand, I turned to face him holding up what I was looking for.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“A hair tie. One of Lindsay’s. She’s left them here before and sometimes I forget to give them back. Here, it’ll help with your hair problems. Your hair is so long it practically gets in the way of everything.”

I walked up to Ryan, taking his hand and pulling him to our bathroom. I grabbed one of my combs and started brushing through his hair. It was a mess but I did my best not to pull it too much or anything, just getting all the tangles out before using the hair tie and giving Ryan a lose ponytail. He wasn’t sure how to react but he seemed to like it.

“Uhh…” he started.

“Have you seen all the stuff I have for my hair? It’s just a thing I’m good at. Do you like it?” I smirked.

“It’s perfect, thanks,” he smiled at me. We decided to spend the rest of the night playing games, he was happy that Ray and I got some of the new stuff together, he was having a lot of fun playing.

And we played all through the night. I didn’t even notice until the sun was getting in my eyes as it was rising for the next day. We laughed at how we were up all night, so we decided to take the next few days off for ourselves until this weekend. We played into the next day, just having a good time. It was one of the more enjoyable weeks lately with everything that happened. Even if we do have to go see Burnie, I’m not letting it bother me right now. I’ve never been so relaxed, so happy. I truly enjoy just being with Ryan. He’s my entire world.

*~*~*~*

I wasn’t sure exactly how I should feel today, I’ve been focusing on having better days with Ryan but now that we’re driving to the prison, I have no idea what I should be feeling. I expressed my concerns to Ryan but he didn’t seem to worry too much.

“Well, what do you think you should be feeling? I can’t tell you what you should be feeling about this, just talk to me.”

“Ryan, where do I even start? I just have…a bunch of emotions swirling in me but there’s so much that I just feel….empty.”

Ryan thought about what I was saying for a moment, looking over at me with soft eyes.

“Then you feel empty. You’ll work through your emotions soon enough, just take deep breaths to help you stay calm and you’ll be fine. He can’t do anything to you, not ever again.”

“I guess you’re right, I’m sorry,” I sighed.

“You don’t need to apologize, Gavin, it’ll be alright. We’ll go see Burnie, see what he wants and whether or not we agree to it is a whole other matter, but then we leave. We won’t stay very long, please don’t get too worked up. I’ll be right there with you,” he smiled lovingly.

 

“Thanks Rye.”

I felt a lot better as we pulled into the parking lot, but I still nervously grabbed onto his jacket as one of the guards showed us to the meeting room. We sat down and I took a few breaths to calm down but it was still pretty hard to calm down. We just stayed silent until two guards came out, Burnie between them.

They walked over to us and sat him down across from us, leaving his hands cuffed as they walked over to the door, leaving us three to our privacy.

“You know I don’t like it when you make me wait, Gavin,” Burnie started bitterly. I bit my lip but didn’t respond to his comment.

“What do you want, Burns? Why do you want Gavin and I here?” Ryan asked, getting on topic.

“Heh,” Burnie snickered, “Always wanting to get down to business. I always liked that about you Vagabond. Well like I told Gavin a while ago, I wanted you here because I’m going to make a deal with you two about my confession about Dan’s murder.”

“I-if you’re going to confess to his murder, what do you want from me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. He smirked and looked over to me, I shuddered at the look in his eyes. I’ve seen that look before, when he knows he’s won. Why he does he have that look? I’m not sure I’m gonna like what he has to say.

“Gavin,” he smirked, “do you know why I brought you into my crew all those years ago?”

I opened my mouth to answer but I stopped. I remember he just came up to me and had me meet his crew. I wasn’t into the idea of being a gang so I tried to leave. One thing lead to another and he suddenly forced me in and started training me.

“I..uh..no. No I don’t know why. I-I never knew you actually had a reason,” I admitted to him.

“No, you wouldn’t. I never told you why. But now I am, I want you to listen and then I’ll tell you my conditions for my confession. Alright?”

“We don’t have time for your stupid stories, Burns. Just tell us your conditions so we can agree or not and get out of here,” Ryan snapped.

“I’m sorry, I thought the story of why I made Gavin’s life a living hell would be important to him. Do you not care about what he wants? Do you want to hear the story Gavin?” he turned back to me, that sickening purr in his tone. I looked between him and Ryan before reluctantly nodding. Ryan took a breath and Burnie smiled.

“Good choice…now let’s see, where to start?” he pondered out loud, obviously to just get under Ryan’s skin as Ryan snapped at him again to get on with it, his fists clenched.

“Ugh fine, to the point, I get it. Chill out Vagabond. I found Gavin at some point after he moved to Liberty City. I saw him out on the streets and I just had this feeling about him, intuition one could say. So I had my men watch him for a while, test him out. Just little things to tell how well his reactions were. And he seemed like he would be a great add to the Cock Bite gang. So after watching him for a couple months, I started to get close to him. Bump into him every once in a while and started to form a friendship with him.”

I sat there, my hands balled into fists as he started telling his story. I wasn’t sure where he plans on going with it but he’s already started about how he started becoming a friend of mine. Ryan only knows the violent relationship I had with Burnie, I never told him anything else. I was hoping that it could just all be forgotten on my part because he never asked about my past with him. I felt his eyes on me as I stared at Burnie. I might not know his whole story, but I know in what direction he plans on going with what he’s already said. I saw Burnie’s grin widen as I stared at him, hatred burning in my glare.

“Of course,” he continued, “it’s only so long that a friendship will grow until both parties want more. I mean it took almost a year to get that far, but soon enough I saw what he wanted. I started teaching him, training him for my gang, giving him just enough that he would stay at my side while I taught him. He would do so well, I openly admit at how proud of him I was. He learned fast and did whatever needed to get my approval.

“But soon enough, words of praise just wasn’t enough for poor little Gav. So we spent some extra time together that wasn’t just for practice and got to know him a little better. He told me about his life in England and I told him about my life. He got so flustered it was simply to die for, but I assume you already know what I’m talking about, Ryan.”

Ryan practically growled in hatred at him, I tore my eyes away from Burnie to look at Ryan. I saw how his jaw set, clenched together as he held himself back from jumping on Burnie. I felt the tears well up in my eyes but I did my best to hold them back.

“I see you just want me to get on with it, I get it. So anyway we hooked up, blah blah blah, we had our fun in the bedroom, same old stories you know? But it’s actually after he tried to leave is where the story really gets interesting. After I broke poor Gavin’s heart and forced him into the crew, he had so much hatred in his heart that I forced him to redirect that anger into his abilities. I didn’t just pick him up off the streets because he’d make a good fuck, I saw his potential and I took the opportunity. I trained him harder than I ever had before, getting him to improve or punished for failing. He learned pretty quick.

“But he had so much more potential than what I could train him to do, so I tipped off his friend Dan to come visit him, get him to pick Gavin up and gave him false hope he would be safe. But that backfired when I found out Dan was actually in the military, he wouldn’t let Gavin continue with gang activity so he had to be dealt with. So I did and brought Gavin back, again forcing him to refocus his hatred into his abilities. When I heard of this gang in Los Santos, The Fake AH Crew, and how powerful they were, I knew it would be perfect.”

I could feel the tears starting to stream down my cheeks, it was all him. Dan, the crew, everything. He planned out every little thing when I thought I was free. I’ve never felt this empty, it was hard not to sob out loud.

“I talked about how you guys were too tough for us to handle, said how we’d avoid Los Santos. That was all lies, only to drive Gavin to run to this city. Of course he’d feel safe in a city he thought we’d avoid at all costs. When in fact, we watched him the entire time. I sat back and enjoyed watching as you guys brought him in as one of your own, trained him and let him grow even more. I was so overcome with joy, you’d think I was a proud parent!

“Until YOU came along, Vagabond. My boys told me about how you grew… close to Gavin. I wasn’t too happy but I kept the hope that it’d be nothing. That didn’t seem to work, him falling in love with you was going to ruin all of my plans! Gavin tried saving you, try to make it right by avoiding you. But I knew it was already too late, you had him wrapped around your fingers and that would be it for him. So I took him back but…while I had him, while I punished him for all he did wrong…I saw…I saw that whether I spared your lives or ended them, you already ruined my plans for Gavin. He would’ve have been the best of the best, and under my control but you ruined EVERYTHING.”

“ENOUGH!!” I finally shouted, shaking in my seat, “Burnie…that’s enough. Just shut up!! That’s what you wanted from me!? To be your personal weapon!?”

“Gavin..” Ryan touched my shoulder.

“NO!!” I pulled away from him, standing, “I knew I was nothing to you after you started getting violent with me, but you truly felt NOTHING about me when I was there!? I was just to be trained until I was just a cold, heartless murderer for you!?”

“Not a thing,” Burnie smiled.

“THEN WHY AM I HERE NOW!? WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT FROM ME!?”

“Gavin…please… calm down…” Ryan tried, gently taking my hand and slowly bringing me to sit next to him once more.

“Gavin…it’s true. I felt nothing for you and only trained you to be a weapon. True, my work was never done, but I still consider you one of my greatest creations,” he laughed.

My heart sank.

“Wh-what?”

“Gavin you moron,” he laughed once more, “every part of you now is all because of me! I’m the one that trained you! I had you perfect your aim, learn the life of my crew, became a killer. And it was all me!”

“N-No…you’re wrong…th-that can’t be true…”

“Gavin, do you really think you’d be in the Fake AH Crew if you hadn’t been involved with me!? Face it, everything you had and have now….is all thanks to me. I made you! You’re one of my greatest creations! If you were to belong to anyone it would be me!! It was all me! All me!!”

Ryan had his arms around me right then. I weakly grabbed onto him as Burnie laughed triumphantly at my breakdown. I got up and was about to leave when Burnie stopped and called to me.

“Oh Gavin! Don’t you want to know what I want from you for my confession??”

I stood there, wrapping my arms around myself as I turned to him, nodding.

“I-I do. What do you want?”

“Gavin. I’ve been thinking about you ever since I was brought to this shit hole of a prison. Thought about how great I did with you. But I don’t want to miss a chance to see what I did first hand!”

“Quit wasting time and just tell him what you want Burns,” Ryan snarled.

“Fine…Gavin. I will admit to Dan’s murder and reveal where his body is. I’ve already worked this out with the lawyers and such but all in all….I want you to be the one who executes me. You’re going to be the one to end my life.”

“You….want me…. to kill you?”

“Did I stutter?”

“Burnie…I don’t understand…”

“Well since I lost to my own creation, it would be a disgrace to me to not be killed by you. You get your revenge and poor little Dan finally will go home. Isn’t that all you wanted? Cause then you get to live happily ever after with Vagabond here.”

Ryan stood up and came over to me, whispering lowly.

“It’s up to you, Gav. You don’t have to do this you know…”

“I know I don’t have to, but Dan…!”

“Shhh…I understand. Please know that I understand. But don’t let me make the choice for you. This is entirely up to you if you want to do this.”

I held onto his hands, leaning into his grasp as I thought about what I should do. I didn’t want to but I knew I had to. For Dan. I owe that to him for being unable to protect him. I pulled away from Ryan, going back to Burnie. I gave him a cold glare as I walked up, ignoring the smirk on his face as I lifted my hand up to him.

“You have a deal, Burnie. You admit to Dan’s murder and tell us where the body is. In return I will be your executor. Just like you want.”

After smirking at me and looking at my hand, he reached up with his cuffed hands, taking mine and shaking it. Suddenly he pulled me down over the table, whispering darkly into my ear.

“I look forward until our final meeting. Hope you enjoy the life I have given you. You shouldn’t waste a gift like this…”

The guards came over and separated us, Ryan at my side making sure I was okay. We left but Burnie wasn’t finished.

“Even when you get something you want, I’m still the winner here, Gav. I always get what I want.”

I covered my ears as Ryan led us out. He helped me into the car and got in himself and we left and went straight home. I couldn’t meet his eyes, I felt so ashamed. Burnie told him just enough and it was killing me. I felt the tears on my face and they didn’t help at all.

“R-Rye…Ryan I-I… I could’ve…I should’ve…” I tried to get the words out but they were stuck. How do I tell him that what Burnie said was true? Ryan grabbed my hand and didn’t say anything for a moment.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it right now…” he said softly, gently stroking my hand with his thumb.

“But I am worrying about it now. How can I not? With what Burnie said-”

“That doesn’t matter right now, you are what matters right now. Let’s get home, where we’ll be safe. If you want to tell me, then you can. But wait until we’re home, then we can just be together.”

I nodded, holding onto his hand the rest of the ride home. I wouldn’t let him go as we walked up to our apartment and just held onto him while we were at the door. He hugged me so tightly that I just didn’t want to let go ever again. I just started sobbing into his chest and wouldn’t let go of him, he held me as close as he could, whispering words of love and sweet nothings to help soothe me. After a while he just lifted me up into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him a bit but otherwise did nothing. I felt him walk over to the couch and sat down, not once pushing me off of him.

“It’s okay, Gavin. Once he’s executed, it’ll all be over for good…you’ll never have to deal with him again…I’m so sorry he did this to you.”

“I should’ve told you…I should’ve told you…” I sobbed pathetically.

“No. You shouldn’t have,” he whispered, I pulled back and looked at him, my face an utter mess.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You had every right not to tell me. You don’t owe me a life story with Burnie. You thought you could trust him in the beginning. And he betrayed you in the worst of ways. You don’t ever have to feel like you have to tell me about every relationship you were in.”

“Ryan…” I tried to stop crying but I couldn’t, he smiled at me and pulled me against him.

“He’s wrong you know…” he murmured.

“About what?”

“He didn’t ‘create’ you and he doesn’t own you. You are your own person. And you were so strong, you survived your life with Burnie and because of that you were able to meet your family. The Fake AH Crew. You deserve to have a good life from now on and you get to have it now. You’re amazing, Gavin.”

“I don’t feel so amazing right now,” I frowned, resting against his chest.

“Maybe not, but I’m sure you will. And I’ll be right here with you the whole time. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Rye-Bread,” I smiled softly.

*~*~*~*

A couple days later, I had gotten a letter in the mail about when Burnie would be executed. I was extremely anxious about it, but I was ready to put an end to it all. So the next week I prepared to head to the prison for the last time.

Burnie was already prepared to be executed from what I could tell. I tried to stay calm, I never thought that I would be able to do this. I was shown to the room where Burnie was to be executed, it was oddly satisfying seeing him cuffed up at a firing line. I waited for a guard to help me out, letting me know that they got everything from Burnie and apparently that they did find Dan’s body. I was so relieved to hear that. It felt good to know that this was worth all of what I went through. I looked to the window and saw Ryan standing behind everyone, watching me with concern but knew I would be alright.

After some final things that needed to be done, the guard handed me the gun and moved to the side. I stared at Burnie on the other side of the room, thinking a moment before speaking.

“Burnie…do you have anything else to say?” I asked, jaw clenched. He pondered a bit before smirking, nodding.

“Yeah…I do. I always love being the winner,” he grinned.

I narrowed my eyes, the guard telling me it was time. I nodded and lifted the gun, taking a breath before steadying my hand. Just like I had hundreds of times before, I let out my breath, relaxed my body as I focused on Burnie and pulled the trigger.

There was a loud bang in the room, then nothing. After a moment, I looked at Burnie. And I smirked, he stood there, in complete shock.

“Wh-WHAT!?” He screamed, “YOU FUCKING MISSED!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?”

“I didn’t miss, Burnie. I made my shot,” I smirked, “but blanks don’t really do anything, now do they?”

“Blanks??” he asked wide eyed.

“Yep. Made a few phone calls, got some things worked around. There’s no way they’d let me execute you. So the next day after our visit, Ryan and I got to work. You’re confession to Dan’s murder definitely got the attention of the British Army. So guess where you’re going?” I grinned, waving to him as the guard showed me out.

“Guess I win this one, Burnie. Have a good one,” I snickered as I left, Burnie just screaming profanities as Ryan and I left.

“So…you don’t regret not killing him?” Ryan asked as we left.

“Nah, not really. Knowing Dan’s finally at peace and I’m finally free from Burnie, I’m not bothered by the fact I didn’t kill him. It’s just finally over. I got what I wanted, so I’m happy.”

“Good to here. Now what do you want to do?” he asked.

“Just a night out on the town with you. Maybe rob a gas station or something later, we’ll need some spending money.”

“Gavin you’re dating a millionaire…” he chuckled.

“Yeah, but doing it like we used too would be awesome, a good adrenaline rush, you know?”

“Sure, sounds like a plan,” Ryan finally agreed.

“Top!! Let’s get going!!” I shouted cheerfully as he revved up the engine of his motorcycle and we sped off into the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally wasn't too happy with how I ended it, but I honestly didn't know what else to do...


End file.
